Compound compressor



(No Model.)

G. METZGER. GOMPOUND COMPRESSOR.

Emecw 'mi I Patented Sept. 17, 1889.

By 16%?. www me Arm/m5 N, PETERS Pxwl-umogmpnqr. washingnen, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAV METZGER, OF NEWARK, NEV JERSEY.

COMPOUND COMPRESSOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 411,252, datedSeptember 1*?, 1889.

Application filed November 19, 1888. Serial No. 291,267. (No model.)

T0 all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUSTAV METZGER, a citizen of the United States,and aresident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Compound Compressors, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in compound gas-compressors, andhas for its object to reduce, as far as possible, the total clearance insuch structures. To this end I arrange the cylinders in line and placethe valve-passages in the ends of the cylinders, pistons, or plungers,the valves being so arranged as to nearly fill up such passages in thecylinders, pistons, or plungers, as fully pointed out in the following'speciiication and claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure I represents avcrtical section of my improvedcompressor arranged fo r triple compression. Fig. 2 is a side elevationthereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the iilter for thecompressed gas. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of one of thevalves.

Similar letters in dicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, the letters A and B designate two stationary cylinders.C is a reciprocating hollow plunger, and D is a stationarydischarge-pipe, all arranged in line.

The lower cylinder A is supported on a suitable frame E and contains areciprocating piston a, which may be actuated by any of the usual means.The lower head ot' the cylinder A is provided with one or more airnletsb, which may have suitable valves; but such valves are not essentialunder all circumstances. The piston a has transverse passages c,provided with upwardly-opening valves d, which, when closed during theupward stroke of the piston, lie flush with the upper face of thepiston. The piston-rod is so adjusted that at the end of the upwardstroke the upper surface of the piston ay and valves is as close to thecylinder-head as to leave substantially no clearance.

The upper cylinder-head contains a passage e, closed by a valve F, asshown on a larger scale in Fig. 4L. The valve F, when closed,ahnostentirely lls the passage e. It has at its bottom a spider f, whichVplays in corresponding recesses. Suitable springs g may be used tofacilitato the action of the valves.

The cylinder B is connected with the head of the cylinder A in anysuitable manner and contains the hollow plunger C, which at the sametime forms the third cylinder, for which reason I have termed it theplunger-cylinder. A reciprocating motion corresponding to that of thepiston a is imparted by any suitable means to this plunger-cylinderC-for instance, as shown in the drawings-by connecting it with thecross-head ot the piston by rods 7L h and bridges ij.

The position of the plunger-cylinder can be adjusted on the bridge j bymeans of nuts 7c, so that when on its extreme downward stroke theclearance shall be reduced to a minimum. The plunger-cylinder C has atits lower end a valve-closed passage similar to the valveclosed passageof the cylinder A, said valve and passage being respectivelydesignatedby the letters G and Z..

The discharge-pipe D is stationary and forms the plunger for thereciprocating cylinder C. Its lower end is provided with a passage m andvalve I'I, similar to the pas sage and valve of cylinder A. In theexample shown in the drawings the discharge-pipe D is held stationary bymeans of rods n n, fastened to lugs on the cylinder B and a bridge o.The stationary plunger or discharge-pipe is adjusted within the bridgeby means of nuts `p p so as to reduce the clearance to a minimum.

The general operation of the apparatus is as follows: VhcnV air is to becompressed, it is admitted through the inlet or inlets b in the lowerpart of the cylinder A during the upward stroke of the piston d. Ifother gases are to be compressed, they are carried to the inlets bymeans ot a suitable pipe or pipes, as I. During the downward stroke ofthe piston a the gas passes through the piston to the upper part of thecylinder A without being compressed. On the next upward stroke thepiston (t forces the gas into thecylinder B, which is of smallerdiameter than the cylinderA, and in which the plungermcylin der C ismoving upward with the piston. Consequently when the piston a and theplunger cylinder IOO ' compression is effected by transferring the gasfrom the cylinder B into the hollow part of the plunger-cylinder C,which necessarily is of a smaller diameter. On the upward stroke of theplunger-cylinder C the gas is subjected to a third compression by beingforced into the discharge-pipe D, the degree of compression in this casedepending` upon i. SO

the back -pressure maintained in the discharge-pipe. To abstract theheat produced by compression, the first two cylinders A and B may besurrounded by a tank or waterjacket J, through which a circulation ofwater may be maintained. For the upper parts of the apparatuswater-cooling is not essential, the transmission of heat through themetal being sufficient.

I have found that in carbonic-acid compressors and in other compressorsimpurities-such as lubricating-oil from the stuffing-boXes-are carriedoff with the compressed gas. To separate them from the gas, I pass thedischargepipe D into a vessel K, its upper end terminating near the topthereof. Vithin this vessel a flanged cylinder q is suspended so as tosurround the discharge-pipe. It extends to near the bottom of the vesseland is filled with a filtering material r, which may be wirecloth orother suitable substance. The gas is thus forced to pass through thisfiltering material, which causes the particles of oil to unite and dropinto the lower part of the vessel K, whence they are carried to anoil-cup L, from which the oil is distributed to the variousstuffing-boxes through a main pipe M and branch pipess s, havingsuitable valves. The branch for the movable stuffing-box is movable orjointed, or a separate oiler is provided for the same. Vhenevernecessary the oilcup can be provided with fresh oil through a suitableopening closed by a plug. While in` troducing fresh oil into the cup thevalves u and w, placed respectily above and below the cup, are closed.The gas after passing through the filtering material passes upwardthrough the space between the vessel K and the inner cylinder q and iscarried off by a pipe t.

When two compressions only are required, the valves of the piston u, andof the lower head of the cylinder A may be removed-in fact, by omittingthe whole of the cylinder A with its piston the operation of theapparatus is reduced to duplex compression.

In practice, when compressing to a very high degree, I prefer to usesteel in the construction of the cylinders as far as permissible.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a triple-compression machine, a first fixed cylinder A, containinga reciprocating piston provided with a valved transverse passage c andhaving a cylinder-head provided with a valved passage e, a secondcylinder B, of smaller diameter, supported upon said cylinder-head andcommunicating with the first cylinder through the valved passage e, astationary discharge-pipe D, with a valved passage fm at its lower end,and a reciprocating plunger-cylinder C, with a valved passage at itslower end, said plunger-cylinder forming the plunger for the secondcylinder B, and also forming areciprocating cylinder, for which thedischarge-pipe D forms a stationary plunger, substantially as described.v

2. The combination, with the dischargepipe of a gas-compressor, of anouter vessel K, closed at its upper end, and into which vessel thedischarge-pipe extends to near the upper end thereof, an inner hollowcylinder q, surrounding the dischargepipe and forming therewith a spacefor the reception of the fil.- tering material, an outlet near the upperend of the vessel K for the passage of 'the gas, andan out-let near thebottom of the vessel for the passage of the oil, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a gas-compressor, the combination, with the discharge-pipe, of anouter vessel K, closed at its upper end, and into which vessel thedischarge-pipe extends tov near the upper end thereof, an inner hollowcylinder surrounding the dischargepipe and forming therewith a space forthe reception of the ltering material, an outlet near the upper end ofthe vessel K for the passage of the gas, an outlet near the bottom ofthe vessel for the passage of the oil, an oil-cup connected with thelatter passage, and a distributing-pipe leading from the oil-cup,substantially as described. Y

In testimony that I claim the 'foregoing as my invention I have signedmy name, in presence of two witnesses, this 12th day of November, 1888.

GUSTAV METZ GER.

lVitnesses:

JOHN OTTO, WILLIAM BENEDICT.

IOC

IOS

